My father ( with glasses) and Samad Idris
My mother and my younger sister
The good old days. Beautiful couple, my parents
Pix of Sir Gerald Templar inspecting the Malay regiment platoon prior to Merdeka day, pix taken by my father
My tricycle and my wooden rooster toy, I am just wearing a suspender without a shirt
My brother and sister posing in front of a poster in Kuala Pilah
My father the original biker, check out his shoe
My late father and his Rolleiflex, his first camera, imagine owning one of those in the 1950s!
My eldest brother holding his oversize pith helmet and his cousin who became one of the earliest Malay estate manager.
Me after my wisdom tooth being pulled, taken in front of the old Umno building
My mother Siti Awa feeding a crane which were plentiful at the Lake Garden, when it was a real garden.
Me (don't know why I was dressed as a little girl) and my mother at the general hospital
Me and my mother after I was born, even a babay I look mean, eh!
The Minangkabau women in my life, my mother with the stripe scarf, with my first cousins and auntie
My brother in front of a movie marquee in Kuala Pilah
Ah! Yes! The tranquil Lake Garden before this country was inundated with riff raff!
Me and my great-great grandmother Saadiah
My favourite cousin Zariah and I
My parents posing like that movie "from here to eternity"?
My cameraman father before he boarded a plane for aerial picture taking
My late father, Mustapha Ahmad.
My mother Siti Awa Jaman
Hi! Rakyat Malaysia!
I thought I would like to share some pictures from my very, very old family album that I managed to salvage from the old kampung house. A lot of neat pictures, especially of my parents when they were young, and when I was born,and there is a picture of me with my great-great grandmother Sa'adiah. Then there is a picture of my mother at Lake Garden when it was a real garden, tranquil and serene and with clean air! Then there is this old picture of my dad working secretly taking pictures for the British army during the emergency, he was just a scrawny young man. My mom and dad did a striking pose on the beach at Tanjung Bidara, he told me the post was like the Burt Lancaster movie!
We were lucky because my father was a photographer he recorded almost everything and once it was asked how come there were many of my pictures in the album. There is this picture of me taken in front of the old Umno building wearing a muffler taken a couple of months before Merdeka. My late father was also a personal friend of the late lawyer Maarof, a street named after him.
One morning, said my father, three Special Branch officers, one British two Malays, came and took Lawyer Maarof, in the evening Lawyer Maarof was found hung near Gombak, verdict: Suicide! But, strangely enough a road was named after a person who "committed suicide".
(Footnote: Lawyer Maarof was sent by the British to England to take up law, he came back and saw discrimination and he wanted to form a Malay bank but was disallowed. He became an ardent anti-British person alongside Pak Sako, and my father, and many more. Many attempts were made on Lawyer Maarof life, until he "committed suicide".
My father said he took picture of Lawyer Maarof dangling from a tree, but he destroyed the picture. Lawyer Maarof is the father of actor Mustapha Maarof. BTW! He was a Minangkabau!)
My father also worked for the Japanese controlled Utusan Malai paper, then he worked for RIDA, now Mara. And he was the first Minangkabau (I believe) who owned a Leicaflex camera and with that he made his living raising his family. He was also the original Mat Rempit, with his motorcycle. Then there is as picture of him with his good friend Samad Idris, or my pak lang! Pak Lang Samad later rose to become a full cabinet minister, but my father who joined Umno number two after after Pak Lang Samad no one, later left to join PMIP and from then on our family life went down the drain, so to speak.
But later in life before he dies my father supported the government and had the nerve to tell me not to be anti-government when I never was, he loved the country, the people like I do. So just enjoy the pictures!
The first picture from the top is the future! They are my grandnieces, or anak cucu, Sara Sophia, with Shahira Sophia and Mohamad Faris! The last picture is of my mother when she was very young, and in case if you are wondering, there are pictures of me when I was born and when I was at the general hospital, and check out my mother's shoes pretty neat!
Then there is also a picture of Sir Gerald Templar inspecting our Malay Regiment during the Merdeka parade, my father took the picture! Then there is a picture of me with my toys, and I was a happy person when I was growing up, I still am a happy person when I want to, now! The ladies are my auntie and cousins taken at Sungai Besi international airport before my cousin took off to London to study engineering. The there is a picture of my brother and sister looking at Laurel and Hardy at Kuala Pilah cinema, ah well you guys can figure the rest out!
So I hope you all can enjoy the pictures! And Happy Merdeka for all of us Rakyat Malaysia yang berbilang kaum! You know what! At the end of the day we will all will die so why not we just enjoy life, like I am going to Simpang Pulai then to Cameron Highland then to Kota Bharu via Gua Musang, I am told, infact I know so, the air there is fresher!
Shalom Bet!
The green lungs of Ampang started at Menara Mutiara, will be shaved bare by unscrupulous developer and the local authorities are not doing anything to prevent it!
The voice of sometimes helpless citizens pleading for the authorities to help protect their environment from being degraded!
The voice of helpless rakyat!
